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Galactic Republic (Earth-77207)
The Galactic Republic was the ruling governing body of the Milky Way galaxy for 100,000 years. Founded by the Asari upon their discovery of the Citadel, an ancient Prothean world, the Galactic Republic acted as a representative democracy to the whole Milky Way, having numerous star systems on its sovereignty, and being ruled by the Citadel Council, a body that elected its representatives across planets. The Supreme Councilor was an elected official from the Council that was chosen by all of its councilors, acting as the de facto leader of the Citadel Council and the Republic. Following thousands of years of political instability and the emergence of the Covenant Crisis and the Clone Wars, the Republic was restructured by Supreme Councilor Donnel Udina and reformed into the Galactic Empire, spanning 27 years of fascism and authoritarianism. History Government and Politics Legislative Branch Each member state (system governments) returned a representative (a councilor) to a central legislative body (the Galactic Council). Councilors were the ambassadors of their home worlds, and member worlds were able to maintain their government and society in accordance with local beliefs, customs, and traditions. There was a wide variety of different local governments along the political spectrum: from monarchies to republics to hive-like communes. In some systems, the councilors was elected to that post; in others, the world government appointed the senator. Naboo's monarch appointed their senators, while the Alderaan Council of Elders elected their senator out of their own ranks. When the Republic's power and influence expanded, many new areas of the galaxy were incorporated into the Republic. A reorganization of senatorial representation occurred in the year 3000 BCE, during the Ruusan Reformation. The most common organization for these new territories was to group regions into sectors of approximately fifty inhabited worlds. Each sector was represented by a senatorial delegation. When the number of senators became too large, sectors were organized into roughly a thousand regions, each represented by one delegation to the Senate. The Council was headquartered in the Council Chamber, an enormous building containing many floating platforms, each of which contained several senators. Each platform in the Council represented a "sector" of the galaxy, with one senator from each planet in that sector. Some platforms represented individual worlds, others the powerful corporations and guilds such as the Trade Federation. Along with the senators, the leaders of the individual member planets also had the power to vote in the Senate and introduce legislation. The Senate followed such parliamentary rules as a Vote of No Confidence, such as that introduced by Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo which forced Supreme Councilor Spatas Quenti out of office in 3156. Councilors received one vote in all matters—procedural and substantive. The councilor was elected from within the Council. The assembly was in turn divided into individual committees, each specializing in specific fields of government administration, and which were responsible for creating legislation to be reviewed by the full assembly. Although legislation passed by the Council was binding to all member worlds, most of the everyday legislation followed by citizens of the Republic was created at the planetary, sector, or regional level. Therefore, the main functions of the Council were to mediate disputes between members, provide for the common defense, and regulate inter-system trade. Executive Branch The members of the Council would then elect a Supreme Councilor from among their ranks who would serve as the Republic's head of government (and, by default, head of state) and chief diplomat. The office was largely powerless in the last years of the Republic, especially after the Ruusan Reformation, and the Councilor served mainly as an officiator of parliamentary procedure and the first among equals in the Council. However, it had the authority to call an Extraordinary Session of the Senate, and could invoke "Supreme Councilor's prerogative" in circumventing minor aspects of the Council's parliamentary procedure. It was still a very prestigious position, however, and the Supreme Councilor had a grand office in the Council Chamber in Galactic City. The Supreme Councilor was properly addressed as "Your Excellency." The symbol of the office of the Supreme Councilor, as well as the Galactic Senate as a whole, was a fanned spear. This cygnet was also emblazoned prominently on the Chancellor's podium in the center of the Council Rotunda's Main Chamber. When in the Main Chamber, the Supreme Councilor usually wore a Veda cloth robe. The Councilor was elected from among the senators who made up the Galactic Council and served a term of office that lasted for four standard years. A Supreme Councilor could legally serve only two consecutive four-year terms before he or she had to step down due to term limits. Economy The Galactic Republic's influence on the galactic economy was linked to its regulatory powers, production of Republic dataries, and authorization of relevant bodies. At the heart of the galactic economy was planetary trade. Interplanetary trade could support a local economy, but, in many cases, the high levels of economic interaction and the massive scale of exchange required for an advanced society could only be funded by interplanetary exports. While some planets maintained their own shipping fleets, most relied on large freight firms, such as Xizor Transport Systems, or independent freight haulers to carry their goods along major hyperlanes. The Corporate Sector was first formed in 490 BBY to free the Republic lawmakers and the Corporate moneymakers from their differences. In the last millennia of the Galactic Republic, commercial interests began to form guilds to increase their influence on relevant legislation and achieve greater efficiency. While most of these guilds, like the Trade Federation, Techno Union, and the Commerce Guild, collapsed after the Clone Wars, a number of surviving members flocked to the Corporate Sector Authority. Thousands of currencies were used across the galaxy. The Galactic Republic's dataries were perhaps the most widespread form of currency. Because of the Republic's exceptional membership, dataries were accepted on all but the most remote planets. From its inception, the credit was backed by the immense wealth of the planet Muunilinst and the InterGalactic Banking Clan. During the Clone Wars, the IGBC backed the currencies of both sides. All working beings were required to pay income taxes, which were collected by the Republic Tax Collection Agency. In the later years of the Galactic Republic, a transit tax of 15% was levied to raise revenue for the government. Society and Culture The Galactic Republic had a very diverse culture. Member worlds were able to maintain their own culture in accordance with local beliefs, customs, and traditions. There was a wide variety of different cultures within the Republic: from religious communities like the Jedi to hive-like communes. The Republic had a liberal policy towards arts also. The dominant aesthetic style of Galactic Republic-era was opulence and ornamentation. Although racism was technically outlawed by the Rights of Sapience clause of the Galactic Constitution, it still very much existed throughout the life of the Galactic Republic. Human-led organizations such as Czerka enslaved entire nonhuman races, while planetary governments such as that of Taris reserved the best sections of the world for humans, while forcing non-humans into ghettos. The majority of slaves in the galaxy were non-humans. At the time the Clone Wars broke out, there were still lawsuits pending about pro-human bias in the Republic government. Military and Intelligence The Republic's most important peacekeeping force was the Citadel Fleet, which policed Republic-controlled space and guarded the Citadel itself. Mostly composed of Human and Turian vessels, the Fleet was large enough to station patrols at a vast number of mass relays. The flagship of the Fleet was the Human ship UNSC Infinity following the decommission of the Asari dreadnought Destiny Ascension. In the event of an emergency, the Citadel Council would need to be evacuated immediate. Republic Demilitarization Enforcement Mission The Republic Demilitarization Enforcement Mission (CDEM) was created in accordance with the armistice that ended the Krogan Rebellions. Based at Pildea Station, CDEM's patrols oversee the entire Krogan Demilitarized Zone. CDEM logs all ships passing through the DMZ and had the right to board and search them at any time and for any reason. Under the armistice, CDEM was responsible for ensuring that the krogan did not obtain starship-mounted weapons; the penalty for smuggling these weapons was punishable by death by spacing. CDEM operated battlestations in orbit above Tuchanka and managed the planetary shroud which prevents Tuchanka's surface from heating to inhospitable levels. CDEM also enforced a quarantine around the debris field of Rothla, and maintained a small garrison at Ruam's helium-3 mining stations to prevent the sale of fuel to criminal elements. Special Tasks Group Species like the salarians and the bothans often handled intelligence-gathering operations as part of their Council duties, using the Special Tasks Group (STG). The STG was composed of small units of salarian and bothan operatives who monitored developing situations or undertake covert missions. Spectres The Council's elite, invested with the Citadel Council's authority, Spectres were vital to keeping the peace across the Galactic Republic. They were individuals who acted either on the Council's orders or on their own initiative, to preserve galactic stability. Sometimes, in situations where the Council was not able to act officially, they would send a Spectre instead. Spectres had absolute freedom under the law and answer only to the Council. Following the Declaration of a New Order, the Spectres would be one of the few organizations of the Republic that was left in the new Galactic Empire by Emperor Sheev Palpatine. Jedi Order When the formation of the Galactic Republic occurred in 25,053 BCE, the Jedi Order had already existed for several hundred years on the planet Tython. Within a century since the Republic's conception, the Order pledged its support for the new government, and thus became formally answerable to the Galactic Council. But despite the Jedi's allegiance to the Senate, the Order had always enjoyed a great degree of autonomy to act as they saw fit, especially regarding internal Jedi affairs. Nevertheless, for thousands of years the Jedi Order's members consistently served the Council in a variety of capacities—whether as special emissaries, peacekeepers, or warriors. But as the Republic gradually expanded its sphere of influence over the known galaxy, the unprecedented level of peace and prosperity also led to a virtually irreversible trend in corruption, decadence and stagnation, especially among the elected officials of the Council. Yet throughout all of that time, the Jedi Order maintained its traditions and principles, often acting as a beacon of honor and integrity within a society that was becoming increasingly amoral and unjust. The Republic government's decline into greed and complacency was not lost on the Jedi either; many within the Order loathed the thought of being accountable to an ineffectual system that was too large and disorganized to efficiently counter the growing list of problems that plagued the Republic and its citizens. Throughout its long history, the Jedi were forced to intervene on "behalf" of the Council by diffusing internal and external threats to the Republic's stability. After the Sith were presumably destroyed in the conclusion of the Battle of Ruusan, the Jedi Order was able to see moderate, but uneasy peace in the Milky Way. As the Republic reached the twilight of its existence, relations between the Jedi Order and the galactic government on the Citadel had grown strained more than ever. The Council was filled by a large majority of self-serving delegates who cared nothing for the troubles of their constituents, effectively reducing the few honest members to an ineffective collection of councilors with little hope of restoring honesty to the august body. The Jedi Council grew ever more disdainful of the Council to the point where they believed that no politician could ever be trusted. Likewise, the Republic began losing faith in their ancient protectors. As the Separatist Crisis worsened to the point where the galaxy was on the verge of being split in half, many councilors came to doubt the Order's ability to safeguard the Republic or its government. Despite the evident animosity between the Order and the legislature, the Republic wasted no time in commissioning the Jedi as officers in the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic, leading the Spartan soldiers into battle. Throughout the conflict with the Separatists, the Jedi Order acted once more as the Republic's armed instrument by leading millions of soldiers and amassing countless victories on various battlefields throughout the galaxy. But even as the Jedi championed the Republic cause and led its army to ultimate victory over the Separatists, the relationship between the Order and the Galactic Council was nowhere near any improvement. The tension reached its climax when the Jedi Council contemplated seizing control of the Republic, an action they would have only had to take had they removed Supreme Councilor Sheev Palpatine from office by force. After the Council failed to arrest Palpatine, the public facade of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, the Senate did not hesitate to rid itself of its Jedi guardians by doing nothing as the Great Jedi Purge commenced with Order 66. With the Jedi virtually neutralized, and with the Republic under the control of the Sith, Palpatine easily reorganized the Republic into the first Galactic Empire with himself as Emperor. Throughout Palpatine's Declaration of a New Order, the vast majority of the Senate applauded the extremely radical amendments that officially brought an end to a Republic that had existed for over 100,000 years. At the same time, the Jedi were annihilated by the Empire. For thousands of years, the Jedi Order stayed true to their allegiance to the Galactic Senate, even in the worst of times when the legislature reached the zenith of its corruption, only to be betrayed and abandoned by the elected officials that they were sworn to serve and protect. Administration Galactic Standard Time The inhabitants of the Galactic Republic (and later the Galactic Empire), utilize a standardized time system: *A galactic standard day comprises 20 hours. *Each hour comprises 100 minutes. *Each minute comprises 100 seconds. *Each second is half as long as a human second. *As a result, a twenty-hour galactic standard day is 15.7% longer than a standard twenty-four hour Earth Coordinated Universal day, which means it lasts 27 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds in Earth-based time. A galactic standard year is described as being an average of asari, salarian, and turian years and only 1.09 times longer than an Earth year. This means that a galactic standard year consists of 398.114 Earth days or 343.97 galactic standard days. Sphere of Influence Source *1 2 Category:Earth-77207 Category:Governments of Earth-77207 Category:Organizations of Earth-77207 Category:Galactic Republic (Earth-77207) Category:Organizations Category:Created by Draft227